Learning a Foreign Language: the Ventriloquists Lesson
Learning a Foreign Language: the Ventriloquists Lesson
The main feature you have to master, in order to call yourself a ventriloquist, is to speak without moving your lips. It is not that difficult. There is a trick, of course. The sounds M, B and P
make your lips move, as make the sounds V and F but in a lesser way. So, in order to be a ventriloquist, you should ban any word with m, b or p inside and avoid to pronounce f-v words. If your name is Mabel or Patrick, choose a stage name!Try to say where you come from. Try right now. It is the best way to understand how it works exactly.
"I come from...". No, your lips are moving.
Try again: "I was born in..." Far better! You are almost a ventriloquist.There is a competition of this kind among teachers; for example: How to express "I have lost my cell phone and my credit card near the 4WD garage" in Latin. (I agree, Latin teachers are, well, Latin teachers.)
It is very alike the game you played in the schoolyard: you had
to answer to a lot of questions using such required word but avoiding such other. Remember! It was not easy to place "rhinoceros" while avoiding "zoo" when asked: "Where were you on Sunday?"; nevertheless, you managed to! You were a gifted ventriloquist and avoided the m-b-p word "zoo".In your own language, you use circumlocutions to exclude certain words. In a parallel step, speaking a foreign language is learning how to use circumlocutions in order to avoid some words:
those you don't know.Think of the words you do not know as your m-b-p words.Do not try to pronounce m-b-p words without moving your lips, you
would spend precious time for nothing. Do not fight against obstacles, get round them. Ventriloquists do not master the movements of their lips, they choose their words.Whatever language you choose to learn, there are always several ways to express something.Gabrielle Guichard, a French teacher who can be reached on GabrielleGuichard.com and listened to on FrenchPodcasting.com
Learning a Foreign Language: Why Should you Learn Words You Never Use in Your Mother Tongue?
Learning a Foreign Language: Why Should you Learn Words You Never Use in Your Mother Tongue?
Imagine a child sitting in front of a desk, his head in his hands, and mumbling various lists of words over and over. Does this child remind you of your own experience? If yes, I bet that "list of words" does not sound appealing to you. You are almost ready to swear that they do not work. Before you mortgage your part of paradise, it may be wise to make sure you are right.You can open a dictionary and begin to learn it by heart (a dictionary is no more than a list of words). There are many illustrated dictionaries that offer you the same resources as plenty of websites do by displaying colorful pictures with captions. You know that these tools exist because you have already tried to enrich your vocabulary that way. The scope of the task curbed your enthusiam.Though, it is not a bad way to learn vocabulary, it is even the best way for one person: the author of the list.Why?You are unique. Your memory is unique, not only because your memories are yours, and only yours, but also because the way you store them is yours and only yours. For a large part, memory is about association of ideas and the associations you make depend on your experience.Let's study an example to make it clear. Ask anyone to give you a word in relation with the common word "horse". You will get mare, race, chivalry or Trojan, etc, depending on the person who answers.He who answered "mare" might go on with stable, foal and even cow and other farm animals; he who said "race" would probably go on with racecourse and tote. Obviously, their experiences of life are quite different. "Chivalry" would lead to King Arthur, coat of mail and tournament while "Trojan" would meet Homer, odyssey, god and goddess.If you are a linguist, it is very likely that you associate horse to horseback, horsehair, horseman and horseplay and think that your list is easy to remember. On the contrary, if you are not interested in the Middle-Age History, the "chivalry" list will slip your mind.The more personal the links between the words, the easier the way to learn them. That is why a list works at its best for its author. The connections between the words pre-exist in the author's head.So, pave your way, prepare your own list!
It will fit in with your way of thinking
It will meet with your center of interests
It will meet with your requirements
It will be half-learnt just by looking for the words you want to know
In the third issue, we will see how to take advantage of scientific studies about human memory. There are many ways to learn a foreign language. Why would you choose the hardest one?Gabrielle GuichardA French teacher who can be reached on GabrielleGuichard.com and listened to on FrenchPodcasting.com
What Does an Interpreter Do?
What Does an Interpreter Do?
Many people get confused as to the difference between an interpreter and a translator. There is a common tendency to think translators interpreter, or that interpreters translate. In fact, the two are very separate jobs requiring different skills. To explain who and/or what an interpreter as opposed to a translator we set out the main differences between interpreting and translation.Interpreting vs. TranslationOn a basic level it would appear that there is little difference between an interpreter and a translator. One translates spoken words and the other written words. However, the differences in how the job is carried out, the pressures, requirements, skills and talents are many.A translator must be able to write well and be able to express words, phrases, innuendos and other linguistic nuances between languages on paper. A translator has the luxury of time, resources (dictionaries, etc), reference material and the freedom to take a break when needed. Their pressures are relatively limited.Translators only work into their native languages to assure accuracy in both linguistic and cultural senses. Translators therefore, it could be argued, are not completely bilingual. They may be able to deal effectively with written sources but when it comes to orally translating, it is a different skill.A translator therefore has a one dimensional aspect to their work. They deal with written words and language that come from paper and return to paper.An interpreter, on the other hand, has to be able to translate spoken words in two directions. They do this using no resources or reference material bar their knowledge and expertise. An interpreter is required to find linguistic solutions to problems on the spot. The pressure therefore can be quite intense.In addition to interpreting, the interpreter must also act as a bridge between people, relaying tone, intentions and emotions. Where an interpreter is caught between cross fire they need to demonstrate great professionalism and diplomacy. Their roles are therefore much more complex as they have to deal with both language and people.What does an Interpreter do?There are two ways of interpreting known as consecutive and simultaneous.Simultaneous interpreting involves interpreting in 'real time'. Many would have seen an interpreter sitting in a booth wearing a pair of headphones and speaking into a microphone at a conference or large diplomatic meeting such as the EU or UN. A simultaneous interpreter has the unenviable task of quickly digesting what one person is saying before immediately translating it to others. One of the key skills simultaneous interpreters must demonstrate is decisiveness. They must think quickly and on their feet.Consecutive interpreting is carried out in face to face meetings, speeches or court cases. A speaker will usually stop at regular junctures, say every few sentences, and have the interpreter translate, before proceeding. A key skill involved in consecutive interpreting is the ability to remember what has been said.What do you need?In short, if you need someone to translate something that is written you need the services of a translator. If you need someone to translate the spoken word, you need an interpreter.Neil Payne is Director of Kwintessential, a London based consultanct providing a range of cross cultural service including interpreters:
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/translation/interpretation.html